What Hardware to Purchase to Start Mining Litecoins/Alternate Cryptocurrency

[CalCook100]

Hey everyone, I've recently stumbled upon the emerging cryptocurrency phenomenon and I'm interested in investing around $500 on a basic mining setup. I currently have a MacBook Pro which from my understanding is unfit for mining.

I'm planning on purchasing an extremely basic computer/OS (Inspiron 660s, Windows 8?) and installing a decent graphics card. I have basically zero technical skills as of now so building my own setup isn't really an option.

I have a few questions:

1. Does the OS matter at all?

2. Is memory important at all for mining?

3. Is hard drive a factor to consider?

4. I've heard a lot about overheating. Is buying a case the best solution for this, or should I consider computers with superior cooling abilities to the Inspiron 660s? (I don't know if there's a quantitative measure for cooling capacity)

Any help or responses to all or any of my questions would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to soak up as much knowledge as possible at this stage.

Thanks!

[middlemarkal]

Hey everyone, I've recently stumbled upon the emerging cryptocurrency phenomenon and I'm interested in investing around $500 on a basic mining setup. I currently have a MacBook Pro which from my understanding is unfit for mining.you are rigth

I'm planning on purchasing an extremely basic computer/OS (Inspiron 660s, Windows 8?) and installing a decent graphics card. I have basically zero technical skills as of now so building my own setup isn't really an option.

I have a few questions:

1. Does the OS matter at all? linux is a bit faster then windows but much more complicated

2. Is memory important at all for mining? not for btc you for LTC

3. Is hard drive a factor to consider?no

4. I've heard a lot about overheating. Is buying a case the best solution for this, or should I consider computers with superior cooling abilities to the Inspiron 660s? (I don't know if there's a quantitative measure for cooling capacity) run open case with an externor fan toward it, DOES DELL sell high end graphic card cheap ?

Any help or responses to all or any of my questions would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to soak up as much knowledge as possible at this stage. search for the tread of the 10$ case 

Thanks!

[CalCook100]

Hey, thanks for replying back so quick. Few more questions:

1. What memory should I look for for mining LTC and other alternative currencies? I don't need the best available, but something middle-of-the-line functional hopefully.

2. The Inspirion model I linked to before has a "Intel® HD Integrated Graphics" - no idea if that's good, but I was thinking of replacing it with the Radeon 7950 bringing my cost total to about $600.

3. Do you know any computers cheaper than the $300 Dell I linked that would work well with the Radeon GPU?

Thanks again, and I'm looking up the $10 thread now.